On Fri, 10 Dec 2004, Angel Marin wrote:
> With MS LookOut (not the express version) you can use 3 message
> formats: plain text, rtf and html. It you set messages' format to
> rtf, your message is sent with a tnef attachment which was the
> original problem.
Understood...
> So changing the default mail format in LookOut on the sender side
[from rich text format to HTML, had been the proposal...]
> fixes this.
... For some value of the term 'fixes' (sorry, couldn't resist)
> Whether it is possible or not to convince every 'proud' MS
> user to stop using that crappy option it is other question :).
OK, I had said before that TNEF was a packaging rather than an
application data format. At least, that is what I had understood to
date. However, reading more closely into MS's own briefings, it
appears they're not very sure themselves. Try
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290809
Up-front they say:
Both Microsoft Outlook and the Microsoft Exchange Client sometimes
use a special method to package information for sending messages
across the Internet. This method is technically referred to as
Transport Neutral Encapsulation Format (TNEF).
So yes, it's a packaging.
But then they say:
The use of TNEF is commonly affected by settings in Outlook that are
referred to as Microsoft Outlook Rich Text Format (RTF). Rich Text
Format and TNEF are not exactly the same, but they are closely
related.
So is it a packaging, or is it a rich text format?
And as you read on: whenever the aim is to turn off TNEF, the answer
is to turn off Rich Text Format. And when you turn on Rich Text
Format, you get TNEF.
(Seems it's a floor wax as well as a dessert topping.)
OK, I suppose we'd better not drag out this off-topic discussion, but
I just wanted to amend what I'd previously posted - to take account of
this strange dichotomy in MS's documentation and point to an actual
URL for anyone who was interested.
